Princess Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (11 August 1763, in

Langenburg Langenburg () is a town in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on a hill above the river Jagst, 18 km northeast of Schwäbisch Hall. It is also the place where Wibele - small, sweet, biscuit-like ...

– 30 April 1837, in Meiningen) was a German regent. She was duchess of

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernest ...

by marriage to

George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

, and Regent of

during the minority of her son from 1803 to 1821.

Life

Louise Eleonore was a daughter of Prince Christian Albert Louis of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife Princess Caroline of Stolberg-Gedern (1732–1796). On 27 November 1782, in

, she married

Regency

When her husband died on 24 December 1803, she took over as regent of the duchy for their son Bernhard II. She ruled with energy, courage, and good sense during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, which for the next decade ravaged the Saxon states.Koller, p. 30. The duchy was forced to join the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...

during these Wars and provide it with troops; afterwards the duchy was struck with famine, which Luise sought to prevent by importing wheat. Despite the fact that French and later Russian armies marched back and forth across the country, Luise refused to flee; she stayed with her infant son and two daughters inside their castle. She used every strategy to preserve the autonomy of her regency, so that when she joined the Allies in 1813, she had saved the duchy for her son. He became the ruling Duke of Meiningen eight years later. By adjustments in the duchy's administration she ensured the duchy was better managed and in 1821 opened the Gymnasium Bernhardinum in Meiningen (already begun by her husband). Her children were carefully educated, with a

grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

to Italy under their tutor

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (, ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking ...

. After her son came of age, Luise retired as regent and went on several foreign trips, including one to England to visit her daughter Adelaide.

Issue

Adelheid Adelheid is the modern Dutch and German form of the Old High German female given name Adalheidis, meaning "nobility" or "noble-ness". It may refer to the following people: * Saint Adelheid or Adelaide of Italy, (931–999), Holy Roman Empress an ...

(later Adelaide, 13 August 1792 – 2 December 1849), with whom Luise had a very close relationship; in 1818 she married King

William IV of the United Kingdom William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

while Luise was regent and special taxes needed to be instituted in the duchy to raise funds for her enormous dowry (6,000 florins per year). * Ida (25 June 1794 – 4 April 1852), married Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. *Stillborn daughter (16 October 1796). *

Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Bernhard II (17 December 1800, in Meiningen – 3 December 1882, in Meiningen) was a Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Family He was the only son of Georg I Frederick Karl, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Bernhard was ...

, (17 December 1800 – 3 December 1882), married Princess

Marie Fredericka of Hesse-Kassel , house = Hesse-Kassel , father = William II, Elector of Hesse , mother = Princess Augusta of Prussia , birth_date = , birth_place = Kassel , death_date = , death_place = Meiningen, Thüringen, Germany } Prince ...

(1804–1888).

Ancestry

References

Sources

* L. Hertel, ''Schriften des Vereins für Sachsen-Meiningische Geschichte und Landeskunde'', Hildburghausen 1903 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luise Eleonore Of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 1763 births 1837 deaths Regents of Germany Princesses of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Duchesses of Saxe-Meiningen House of Saxe-Meiningen House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 19th-century women rulers People from Langenburg